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An Early Account 

of the Establishment 

of Jesuit Missions in America 



BY 
HENRY F. DEPUY 



Hmerttan pnitquarian gntieJJj 



An Early Account 

of the Establishment 

of Jesuit Missions in America 



BY 
HENRY F. DEPUY 



RjlPBtNTBD FBOM THE PROCEEDINGS OP THE AmEBICAN ANTIQUARIAN SoCIBTT 

FOR April 1920 



WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. 

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 

1921 



( Y ife. 






The Davis Press 
WoRCESTEB, Massachusetts 



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A.uthor 

JUL 2 m- 



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AN EARLY ACCOUNT 

OF THE ESTABLISHMENT 

OF JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA 



BY HENRY F. DEPUY 



FEW subjects in American history have had more 
careful study from eminent scholars both historically 
and bibliographically than the Jesuit missions in 
North America. The Jesuits were by no means the 
first mssionaries to the new world, but they had a 
system of reports to the head of the order and many of 
these reports were printed for public distribution. 
These reports from the fact that they contain des- 
criptions of the country and its inhabitants are among 
the most important sources of our early history. It 
is therefore with good reason that these books and 
anything relating to the Jesuit missions have been 
sought with avidity by historians, libraries and collec- 
tors. The discovery of hitherto unknown books or 
manuscripts relating to these Missions is today an 
event of importance both historically and bibliograph- 
ically. It is the purpose of this paper to call attention 
to an authoritative source of information as to the 
Jesuit missions till now almost entirely unknown to 
American investigators — the Life of Francisco de 
Borja, the third General of the Jesuits, written by 
Father Ribadeneyra and printed in Madrid in 1592. 
The complete title and collation of this book is: 

Vida del P. Francisco de Borja, que fue Duque de Gandia, y 
despues Religisos y III. General dela Compaiiia de lesvs. 
Escrita per el P. Pedro de Ribadeneyra de la misma Compania 
Dirigida al Catolico Rey Don Felipe II nuestro Senor. [cut] 



Con privilegio real En Madrid, En Casa de P. Madrigal. 
Ano de 1592. Esta tassada en papel en cinco Reales, y 19 
mrs. 

Quarto; ff [12], 237 [3]; 193 x 140 mm. 

Father Pedro de Ribadeneyra, the author, was born 
in Toledo, November the first, 1527, and died at 
Madrid on the twenty-second of September, 1611. 
He served in several important posts in the Company 
of Jesus, and besides other works was the author of 
the Lives of Loyola, Laynez, and Borgia the first 
three Generals of the Order. 

The "Vida de Borja" was first printed in Madrid in 
1592, the foregoing being the title to the first edition. 
The other editions that I have been able to trace are: 
Verdun, 1596, in French; Douai, 1596 and 1603, in 
French; Florence, 1600, in Italian; Ingolstadt, 1613, 
in German; Mentz, 1603, in Latin; Rome, 1616, in 
Italian, cited by Backer; and Antwerp, 1598; 
Mayence, 1613; Douai, 1603; Lyons, 1609, cited by 
Nicolas Antonio. These are all separate editions of 
the Life of Borgia. The three ''Vidas" of Loyola, 
Laynez and Borgia appear together in several editions, 
the earliest being 1594. Perez Pastor in Bibliografia 
Madrilena, Madrid, 1891, gives the interesting infor- 
mation about this edition of 1594, that the Duke of 
Gandia, son of Francisco de Borgia, gave 1500 reals 
to assist the printing ''de ce livre. " This sums up the 
bibliographical information that I have found in 
regard to the book. As to the book itself, I have not 
been able to locate a copy of any edition in any public 
library in America. The British Museum catalogue 
has two editions, Madrid 1592 (imperfect) and Mentz 
1603. 

The copy which I owned and from which the 
chapters quoted in this article are taken is now in the 
library of Mr. Henry E. Huntington. I obtained it 
through Mr. Robert Dodd, and a name on the title 
indicates that in the early part of the 19th century it 
was the property of Alfred Hennen of New Orleans. 



V I D A 

DEL. R FRANCISCO 

de Borja , que fue Duquc de 

Gadia,y defpues Religiofo y.III. 
General dcla Compaiiia de 

1 E S V S. -. - 

Efcritapor el P. Pedro, de Ribadenejra 
^ de la mifma Qcmpania, 

Dirigida al Catolico Rey Don Felipe.!!.^ 
nueftroSciior. 







CON PRIVILECIO REAL, 



'■■\ 



EN MADRID, 
En cafa de P. Madrigal Alio de i 5 ^ 2. 

£^a tajjado en pajyel en cbico ^ales^y ip. mrs. 



It contains four chapters on the establishment of 
Jesuit missions in America. They are as follows : 

"The Entrance of the Company into the West Indies, and 
the death of nine of them in Florida, Chapter VI. 

"Our men go to Peru and to New Spain, Chapter VII. 

"The Death which the heretics gave to thirty-nine of the 
company who were going to Brazil. Chapter X. 

"Concerning twelve others of the Company who likewise 
died at the hands of the heretics." Chapter XI. 

These chapters are, as far as I know, the earliest 
printed accounts of the Florida mission. There are 
earlier accounts of the South American missions; and 
in this connection it is worthy of remark that although 
Ribadeneyra distinctly says in Chapter VI: ''When 
Father Francisco was first General of the Company 
none of the Company had entered the West Indies 
which were subject to the Crown of Castile. They 
had only sent forth and scattered our men through the 
East Indies" etc. Yet it is undoubtedly a fact that 
there were Jesuit missionaries in South America prior 
to 1550. I am indebted to Mr. Eames for the three 
titles as follows : 

(1) Avisi Particolari delle Indiedi Portugallo, Roma, 1552, 
(This contains seven letters from Jesuit missionaries in Brazil. 
1549-1551.) 

(2) Novi Avisi di piu lochi de ITndia et massime de Brasil 
receuuti quest' anno del M. D. LIII, Roma, 1553. (Contains 
eleven letters from Jesuit missionaries in Brazil, 1551-1552.) 

(3) Copia de unas Cartas de algunos padres y hermanos dela 
compaiiia de Jesus que escrivieron dela India, Japon, y Brasil, 
[Lisbon,] 1555. (Contains four letters from Jesuit missionaries 
in Brazil written in 1555.) 

All three are in the Lenox collection of the New York 
Public Library, and all were printed before Francisco 
de Borgia became General of the Company in 1565. 

It is remarkable that in studying the history of the 
Jesuit missions scholars should have failed to consult 
the life of the General of the Order under whom they 
were established. It seems hardly credible that a 



6 

book of that character, which went through at least 
ten editions in twenty-four years, should be extremely 
rare. Yet no reference is made to it by Shea or 
O'Callaghan, who were both intensely interested in 
the subject, and who were both members of the Order. 
Buckingham Smith is supposed to have ransacked 
Madrid for early books and documents relating to 
Florida and evidently did not discover it. The facts 
given in the chapter on Florida are simply confirma- 
tory, though in more detail, of the account given by 
Shea in his chapter on Ancient Florida in Winsor's 
Narrative and Critical History, Volume 2. Shea cites 
as his authority a letter of Menendez dated in October 
1566, and printed in Madrid, 1710 [Winsor II, 279.] 
In fact, I have been able to learn of but one American 
reference to this book. This morning, our associate 
Mr. George Parker Winship, has called my attention 
to the fact that it was cited in 1905 in a footnote on 
p. 266 of Woodbury Lowery: ''Spanish Settlements 
within the limits of the United States; Florida, 1562- 
1574." 

The story of the attempt to establish the mission in 
Florida as told by Father Ribadeneyra is well worth 
reprinting. I have had it translated by a well-known 
student of Spanish literature and give it entire. 

The Entrance of the Company into the West Indies, 
AND the Death of Nine of them in Florida 

Chapter VI 

When Father Francisco was first General (of the Company) 
none of the Company had entered the West Indies, (which 
were) subject to the crown of Castile. They had only sent 
forth and scattered our men through the East Indies, and 
arrived at the gates of China, and founded houses and churches 
in Japan, with the result that is known. There were many in 
the Company to whom our Lord had given an ardent desire to 
die for him, and a particular aptitude to labor in (fol. 140a) 
the West Indies, in the same manner in which their other 
companions and brethren labored in the East Indies. And 



they implored our Lord that he might open the gates for them 
and fulfil in them his desires. And the charity and zeal for the 
glory of God our Lord, with which Father Francisco was 
burning, was so great that he had, even before he became 
General, offered up many prayers, sacrifices and penances for 
this purpose. The Lord heard them and waited (for the most 
opportune time) until the Father was appointed General, in 
order that by his hand and to his contentment he might send, 
for this enterprise, the fathers and brethren who should seem 
best to him. Almost at the same time or a little later, which 
was on May 3, 1566, he induced the Catholic King don Felipe 
to write a letter, in which, among other things, he said: on 
account of the good reports which we have of persons in the 
Company, and of the good they have done and are doing in 
these Kingdoms, I have desired that an order be given that 
some of the Company be sent to our Indies of the Atlantic 
Ocean, And in order that the necessity for such persons shall 
constantly be increased and that our Lord may be served by 
the said father's going to those parts, on account of the 
Christianity and kindness they have and because they are 
persons fit for the conversion of those natives, and on account 
of the devotion I have to the said company (fol. 141) I desire 
that some of them go to those regions. I therefore beg you and 
charge you to appoint and command 24 persons of the Com- 
pany to go to our said Indies to wherever our Council shall 
indicate to them. That they shall be learned persons of good 
life and example and such as you may judge fitting for such an 
undertaking. For besides the service which you will do to the 
Lord in this matter, I shall receive great satisfaction and I 
shall command that they be provided with everything neces- 
sary. In addition, that country to which they may go will 
receive great happiness and benefit through their arrival. 

In fulfillment of what the King commanded, father Fran- 
cisco chose some fathers of the Company for this mission. The 
first were the fathers Maestro Pedro Martinez (who was an 
Aragonese from the town of Teurel) and Juan Rogel, and the 
brother Francisco de Villareal, who left in that same year on 
July 28th for Florida, where they arrived on September 24th 
of the said year. And our Lord was pleased to receive as the 
first fruits of the Company the first one of the Company who 
set his foot on that new world. For Father Martinez in 
leaping ashore in the Floridas in order to preach and to give 
news of the Gospel to the barbarous natives who were (fol. 
141a) on the sea-shore, was beaten to the ground with the 
clubs they carried, and seizing him, half dead, they threw him 
into the sea, our Lord thus giving him as a reward for the 
hardships he had suffered in the Company in his religious and 



exemplary life, so happy a death and the grace of dying for his 
love. But this frightened neither his companions nor the 
others of his Brethren who had remained in Europe, nor did 
this death of Padre Martinez intimidate them; on the contrary 
it animated them more, knowing that they were more easily 
able to attain in Florida what they desired, which was to die 
for Christ. And so in the year 1568 Father Francisco, in 
order to continue the work they had undertaken, sent eleven 
of the Company, the Superior of whom was Father Juan 
Baptista de Segura; these were to be joined by father Rogel and 
brother Francisco or Villareal, companions of father Pedro 
Martinez, who, after the latter's death, retired to the port of 
Habana, and had already returned to Florida, whither the 
eleven fathers and brothers departed from Sai^ucar on March 41 
13, 1568. There went with them a Cacique or chief of the 
country of Florida, whom the Governor Pedro Melendez had 
brought with him from Florida to Spain. And having been 
instructed in the matters of our holy religion, (fol. 142) he 
received with great expressions of joy and happiness the 
waters of holy baptism and was called don Luys. For it was 
believed that because he was familiar with that country and a 
high personage who had many relations, that he would be able 
to help our men in the conversion of his subjects and friends, 
as he had promised to do. 

Father Baptista de Segura and seven of his companions 
having arrived in Florida (for the rest of them remained in 
Habana), they courageously penetrated the country, guided 
by don Luys, without permitting a single Spanish soldier to 
accompany them, altho many had offered to do so. They 
wore their ornaments (vestments) and whatever was necessary 
for saying mass, and some devotional books. They passed 
through great deserts and swamps, of which there are many in 
that country. Their provisions were soon exhausted and they 
had to support themselves on the herbs they found in the fields 
and on the water they found in the pools. They arrived in 
the country of don Luys, which was a considerable distance 
from the sea and from every human shelter, and was inhabited 
by naked savages. Don Luys informed them that they should 
await him in a half deserted village, and he went to another, 
where his people were, five leagues further on. (fol. 142a) And 
when the fathers had waited six days longer then had been 
agreed upon, father Baptista de Segura sent a father and one 
of the brethren to learn why he did not come and whether he 
wished that they should come to where he was. On arriving 
(whether it be because don Luys had apostatized and returned 
to his idolatries and was confused, or because he had already 
planned and plotted the wickedness), he and his relatives 



9 

fell upon the padre and the brother and killed them. And at 
dawn of the following day, with don Luys as captain and 
guide, they fell upon and killed the rest of them, whom they 
found, all six of them, kneeHng, and awaiting death with joy 
and devotion. Then they stripped them of their garments, 
stole their ornaments and altar accessories, put on the clothes 
of the dead and danced in their intoxication. Three of them 
went to open a little chest of the fathers, thinking to find some 
valuables in it. But they found in it a book of the holy Scrip- 
ture, a missal, and devotional books, rosaries, images, hair 
cloth, discipHnes and a sacred crucifix, which they looked upon 
very intently, and as they looked, they fell suddenly dead. 
Those of their companions, who were present, were so wonder 
struck (fol. 143) and amazed at what they saw, that without 
touching a thing they each went their way. All this was 
seen and noted by a Spanish boy, whom the father's had with 
them, and whose life was spared because he was a boy and 
because they knew that he could not preach to them. He 
remained a captive among them for several years until the 
Lord freed him from such a barbarous, fierce nation, and he 
related what we have just told. 

Those who died there for the propagation of our holy faith 
were: father Baptista de Segura, a native of Toledo (who, 
because of his virtues and his religious life had been much 
loved in Spain by father Francisco) ; father Luys de Quiros, 
and the brethren Gabriel Gomez, Cauallos, Juan Baptista 
Mendez, Pedro de Linares, Christoual Redondo, and Gabriel 
de SoUs. I have set down their names here in order that the 
memory of these fortunate clerics may be preserved, who in 
their zeal for souls shed their blood with such constancy and 
joy. 

And for the same reason I here wish to mention father 
Francisco Lopez, who, in the previous year, 1567, in going from 
the College of Cochin to Goa with three companions, fell into 
the hands of the moors, (fol. 143a) He was known to them on 
account of the tonsure he wore, and was importuned by them 
to forsake the faith of Jesus Christ. But as, with great 
confidence and fortitude he persevered in the love and confes- 
sion of his Lord and offered himself to every kind of torment 
and death for it, the barbarians pierced his side with a lance 
and decapitated him; and so he passed from this brief and 
miserable life to the reward of eternal happiness. Of his three 
companions, one was captured by the Moors; the other two 
disappeared. 

This was in the year 1567, in which father Francisco sent 
fathers Pedro Domenech, and Geronymo Mur to Oran to 
assist Pedro Luys de Borja, his brother, Master of the Knights 



10 

of Montesa (who was Governor and Captain General of that 
city for King PhiUp, and who is now Viceroy and Captain 
General of Cataluna), and to help the soldiers and men in his 
charge in their spiritual affairs and matters appertaining to our 
ministry, as they did for some years while they were there, to 
the advantage of both soldiers and people. (Fol. 144) 

Our Men go to Peru and to New Spain 
Chapter VII 

In this year, 1567, King Philip wrote another letter to 
father Francisco, in which he said: On account of the need 
there is in the province of Peru for clerics to attend to the 
conversion and instruction of the natives and on account of the 
devotion which his majesty has for the Company, he begs and 
charges him that he order twenty monks of the Company to 
go to Peru. They are to occupy themselves in the conversion 
and instruction of the Indians, and are to build houses and 
colleges, for he will command that they be supplied with every- 
thing necessary for their journey. In fulfilment of this, in 
the same year 1567, there departed from the port of San Lucar 
on November 2, fathers Geronimo de Portillo (who goes as 
Provincial), father Antonio Alvarez (who died in Panama), 
father Maestro Luys Lopez, and father Miguel de Fuentes, 
beside the brothers Diego de Bracamonte, Juan Garcia de 
Yanguas, Francisco de Medina and Pedro Lobet. These were 
the first of the Company to enter Peru, and they built houses, 
founded colleges and opened schools, in which were taught 
and are taught today the sciences and faculties which the 
Company is wont to teach to the great benefit of the youth and 
of the Spaniards who reside in that very extensive Kingdom, 
and of the Indians themselves, who are converted to our holy 
faith through the teaching of the fathers. 

So much was the Lord our God pleased with the going of 
these fathers and brethren of ours to Peru, and so favorable 
the beginnings of their preaching, that the Catholic King, 
don Felipe, was induced to ask the Company to send more 
people. And so on March 19, 1659, there left with don 
Francisco or Toledo (who went as Viceroy to Peru), the 
fathers Bartolome Hernandez, Juan Garcia, the Maestro 
Barzana, Hernan Sanchez, Rodrigo Alvarez, and the brothers 
Sebastian Amador, Juan de Zufiiga, Juan Gomez, Antonio 
Martinez, Juan de Casasola, Diego Ortun, Diego Martinez 
(of whom father Juan Garcia died in Panama) , and afterwards 
in the year 1571, on June 8, there left for the same province of 
Peru, fathers Joseph de Acosta and Andres Lopez and brother 



11 

Diego Martinez. On June 23, 1572 at the same instance and 
command of his Majesty there left for New Spain fourteen 
fathers (fol. 145) and brethren, who were the first of the 
Company who entered into that province. They took with 
them, as their Provincial, father Doctor Pedro Sanchez (who, 
having been Rector of the University of Alcala, and holding a 
chair therein, had entered the Company some years before), 
and with him were the fathers Diego Lopez, Diego de Fonseca, 
Pedro Diaz, Concha, Baca, Camargo, and the brethren Juan 
Sanchez, Mercado, Curiel, Matilla, Bartolome Larios, Lope 
Nauarro, Martin Goncalez; whom I have wished to name with 
the rest in this chapter in order that there may remain a 
memorial of the first of the Company who went to enlighten, 
with the Hght of the holy gospel, the souls of the dwellers in 
this new world, who were captives under the tyranny of Satan. 
These fathers and brethren having reached New Spain, settled 
in the city of Mexico, the chief city of that Kingdom, and 
afterwards were spread and scattered in other cities and 
provinces, to the great edification and benefit of the natives 
and of the Spainards who reside in it, the number of our people 
being increased every year by those who were sent thither. 

How the divine goodness has been served by the agency of 
the members of the Company in the Western Indies of Peru 
and of New Spain (fol. 145a) by helping the other clerics in 
the conversion of the heathen, and in the education of those 
already converted, and by the reformation of the customs of the 
Spanish colonists, and by the teaching of youth and by all the 
other works of charity, (all this) I do not wish to mention here, 
because it is so well known, and because it is too long for a 
brief narrative. This was the beginning and the first entry 
of the Company into the Kingdom of Peru and of New Spain, 
subject to the crown of Castile; which (Kingdoms) were 
closed for its sons (i. e. sons of the company), until the Lord 
through the prayers of father Francisco, who was then Presi- 
dent General, opened them, as we have just related. But here, 
in Europe, the Company also extended its activities and 
founded colleges in various provinces as will be seen in the 
following chapters. 

The Death Which The Heretics Gave to Thirty-nine of 
The Company Who Were Going to Brazil 

Chapter X 

Not only did our Lord God increase the Company that we 
have on earth by increasing the number of colleges and 
founding new houses in various Provinces (as we have seen), 



12 

but he cherished and favored it much more by peopling 
Heaven with its sons and by enriching and augmenting the 
Company of those who already enjoy the rewards of their 
victories, giving to their brethren new victories and crowns, 
as he did in the year 1570, by a notable event which I wish to 
relate here. Because it is not just that we pass in silence an 
inestimable benefit which the Company received from the 
hands of the Lord, by means of certain French heretics, who, 
in hatred of our holy Catholic faith, killed fifty-one of its sons, 
father Francisco being then President General. For one of 
the greatest fruits that the Company has reaped from the 
labor and industry of our people (who go among the heathen 
and heretics, enlightening them and converting them to our 
holy faith) , has been that many of them have shed their blood 
for the very faith which they were preaching, and that they 
have confirmed (fol. 152) the truth of their doctrine by their 
deaths. This has happened in many places and at different 
times. Among them is the one I here relate. Father Francis- 
co sent father Ignacio de Azeuedo, a Portuguese of the city of 
Puerto (a man no less illustrious in hohness than in blood) to 
the province of Brazil to visit and console those of the Com- 
pany who were there, and to note what their needs are to carry 
on the enterprise that had been begun, and to convert that 
barbarous people to our holy ReUgion. The father went 
thither and performed his duty well; then went to Rome to 
report to the General what he had done, and the extreme need 
there was in Brazil of persons to cultivate that deserted vine- 
yard, since for lack of workers, many souls were being lost. 
It seemed (fitting) to father Francisco to send father Ignacio 
de Azevedo again as Provincial to Brazil, with a goodly number 
of fathers and brethren to help him in that spiritual conquest. 
And he commissioned him to take with him from the 
provinces of Spain some who were desirous and inclined for 
that opportunity; and that he should receive others into the 
Company who may request it, if they should have a desire to 
accompany him and offer their lives to the Lord for the benefit 
and conversion of the Brazils, for there were not so many 
qualified clerics who could go to Brazil without leaving other 
enterprises of much service to our Lord, upon which they were 
now engaged. Likewise it was fitting that some of those who 
are to go should be young, in order to accustom themselves 
the more readily to the climate and to the living in the new 
country, and to learn the language of the natives. The Pro- 
vincial Azevedo brought together sixty-nine of the Company, 
in compliance with the order that he had received. He 
distributed them in three vessels: in one, called the Santiago, 
he took with him forty-four; in another went others, and as 



13 

their Superior, father Pedro Diaz, in another went the rest. 
They left Lisbon on June 5, with Don Luys de Vasconcelos, a 
vahant Christian Knight, who with the three vessels and four 
others went as Governor of Brazil, and well pleased he was to 
have in his company so many and such clerics. They went on 
their voyage with as much, good fellowship as if each one of 
the vessels were a college of the Company. They had their 
appointed hours of prayer, of examination of conscience, of 
reading at table, prayed each day their litanies and the Salve 
Regina to our Lady; instructed the sailors, soldiers and passen- 
gers in Christian Doctrine, and preached to them, read the 
lives of the Saints and gave them (fol. 153) rosaries, images, 
beads that had been blessed, devout and profitable books 
instead of those that were not so, and which they took from 
them with kindly words. With this harmony and concord all 
the vessels reached the Island of Madeira, where it was 
necessary that the Santiago, which bore father Ignacio de 
Azevedo and his companions, had to separate from the rest, 
and went alone to the island of La Palma, one of the Canaries. 
Being obliged to leave, father Ignacio called all his companions 
and told them he beheved that on that voyage there would not 
be lacking heretical corsairs who would pursue them, and for 
all that might happen it was fitting that all should be well 
prepared and resolved to die for Christ. And if, by chance, 
there should be anyone among them who should not have this 
spirit and courage, and should wish to remain with the other 
vessels, that he would be pleased that he do so. Among all 
the forty-four whom he brought, there were only four (who 
were novices and afterwards went out of the Company) who 
showed any weakness, and plainly said that as men they 
feared that danger which the father had placed before them, 
and begged him that he leave them on the island of Madeira, 
and so they remained. The rest of them offered themselves 
to any hardship and danger, and followed their Provincial; 
and they (fol. 153a) and the rest who went in the vessel, 
confessed themselves at the advice of the father before saihng 
from the port, and received the body of Christ our Lord on the 
eve of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The father 
distributed among them some Agnus Dei and some holy 
articles that he had brought from Rome. All prepared them- 
selves and armed themselves for any danger of death. 

Those who went with father Ignacio de Azevedo, took leave 
of the others, their brethren who remained with father Pedro 
Diaz and in the other vessel, with extraordinary tenderness 
and an abundance of tears, like those who devined that they 
were never to see each other again till the other life. And saihng 
around the Canaries their familiar conversations were about 



14 

martyrdom, and speaking among themselves, said: if it 
should only please God our Lord that upon this sea, we should 
meet with someone who, for the cause of the Catholic faith 
would take our lives! What a happy fate and what a joyous 
day it would be for us, and of how many and how cruel enemies 
we should free ourselves with this one enemy of our bodies! 
While engaged in these conversations, finding themselves very 
near the port of La Palma, they saw bearing down upon them 
five French vessels, in which was Jaques Soria, a famous 
corsair, and subject of the Queen of Navarre; he and his (fol. 
154) Queen professed heresy and were capital enemies of the 
Catholics. He came in a large, powerful galleon with much 
artillery and many men. Father Ignacio, when he saw the 
danger, knew that this was what his heart had previously told 
him and what the Lord had given him to understand. And 
after encouraging his people to fight and die for the faith, 
showing them that they could not fail to gain the victory, 
either conquering their enemies or dying at the hands of the 
heretics for Jesus Christ, he drew forth a portrait of our Lady, 
painted by Saint Lucas, which he had brought from Rome, 
and turning to his companions who were singing the Litany, 
and with copious tears asking the Lord for mercy and for 
forgiveness of their sins, and with cheerful mien and courageous 
heart, said to them: Up, my dear brethren! My heart 
tells me that on this dsbj, just as we are, we are all to go to 
dwell in Heaven with Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and with 
the glorious Virgin Mary, his mother and all that blessed 
company. Do you not see how greatly we are favored, for 
instead of Brazil we are making port in Heaven? Let us 
pray, brethren, and bear in mind that this is the last hour that 
God gives us, to deserve and prepare ourselves to die for love 
of him, (fol. 154a) All raised their hands, and with eyes 
filled with tears raised to heaven, said in a loud voice: "Let 
it be so. Lord : may thy holy will be fulfilled in us, for we are 
all here ready to give our blood for you." To be brief, the 
heretics came and grappled with the Santiago and although 
there was some resistance and there were some deaths among 
the enemy, they boarded the ship and overpowered it. And 
when Jaques Soria learned that there were fathers of the 
Company of Jesus on board, he commanded that they be 
all killed, without sparing anyone, saying in a loud voice: 
''Kill, Kill the Papists who are going to sow false doctrine in 
Brazil." And though he had spared the lives of two secular 
clerks and other fathers of Saint Francis who had fallen into 
his hands a few days before, so great was the hatred and rage 
he had against the Jesuits (for so he called the members of the 
CompanjO, that he did not wish to pardon an}^, although many 



15 

of them were young and novices. After the vessel had been 
captured Jacques himself approached with his galleon and 
cried: ''Throw these dogs of Jesuits, these papists and 
enemies of ours into the sea." As soon as they heard this 
command of their captain, his heretical soldiers, (Calvinists, 
like himself) grappled with our men, and stripping them of 
their poor cassocks, and giving them many wounds, especially 
to those (fol. 155) who were priests and wore the tonsure, and 
cutting off the arms of some of them, threw them into the sea. 
But because father Ignacio de Azevedo like a valiant soldier 
of God and a priest and Captain of the others, was encouraging 
them with the image of our Lady in his hands and saying: 
"Let us die cheerfully, brethren, for the service of God and for 
the confession of his faith which these, his enemies, impugn," 
one of the heretics slashed his holy head so fiercely that it was 
cleft open to the brain. And the valiant priest without 
withdrawing nor moving from the spot awaited the blow; and 
there they gave him three lance thrusts, so that he fell, saying 
in a loud voice: "May men and angels be my witness that I 
die in defence of the holy Roman Church and all that it 
confesses and teaches." And turning to his companions and 
embracing them with singular charity and cheerfulness, he 
said: "Children of my heart, have no fear of death; be 
grateful for the mercy which God shows you in giving you the 
fortitude to die for Him, and since we have so faithful a witness, 
and so liberal a remunerator, let us not be faint-hearted nor 
weak to fight the battles of the Lord. " And having said these 
words, he expired. The heretics attempted to wrest from his 
hands the image of our Lady, but w^ere unable to do so. 
Brother Benito de Castro, who, bearing a crucifix in his hand 
and showing it, said : " I am a Catholic and son of the Roman 
Church," him they pierced with three shots of an arquebus. 
And seeing that he was still upright and continuing in his 
confession, they gave him many sword-thrusts, and before he 
expired, they cast him into the sea. Another brother, named 
Manuel Alvarez, who was burning with living flames for the 
love of Gd and desired to die for him, and who rebuked the 
heretics for their blindness, him they wounded in the face, and 
being stretched on the ground, they broke his legs and arms. 
They did not kill him, in order that he might suffer greater 
pain, and he, turning his peaceful eyes upon his brethren, said : 
"Envy me, I beg you, brethren, and do not pity me, for I 
confess that I never deserved of God so much good as he does 
me in these torments and this death. Fifteen years I have 
been in the Company, and for ten years I have wished and 
prepared myself for this voyage to Brazil and with this happy 
death I consider myself well rewarded by God and the 



16 

Company for all my services. " And breathing his last breath, 
they cast him into the sea. And because they found two 
brethren kneehng in prayer before the images which they 
(the heretics) so hated, they attacked them with diabolical 
rage and fury, breaking the skull of (fol. 156) one of them with 
the pommel of a sword, and scattering his brains, so that he 
fell dead. This brother's name was Bias Ribero. The other 
brother, who was named Diego de Fonseca, received such a 
dagger-thrust in the mouth that it severed his tongue, and 
crushed his jaw-bone. And father Diego de Andrada (who, 
father Azevedo being dead, was the chief and head of the rest), 
because they saw that he was a priest and had confessed some 
of his companions, and was encouraging them, saying: "Pre- 
pare your souls, my brethren, for your redemption is close at 
hand, " him, after giving him many stabs, they cast, still living, 
into the sea. While this was happening two of the brethren 
named Gregorio Escrivano and Alvaro Mendez were sick in 
their beds, and though they might have concealed their fear 
and remained quiet, yet with the desire they had of dying for 
Christ, they arose as best they, could and putting on their 
cassocks, with bare feet and half naked, they joined their 
brethren, that they might not lose so good an opportunity, 
and so they died with them. The heretics had carried another 
brother named Simon de Acosta to the galleon of Jaques, 
thinking that he was the son of some gentleman or titled 
personage, for he had this appearance and was only 18 years 
old, and of good manners. Jaques called him aside and asked 
him whether he also (fol. 156a) belonged to the Jesuit priests. 
And though by denying it he could have escaped with his life, 
he would not, but rather confessed that he was a companion in 
religion and a brother of those who died for the Catholic, 
Apostolic and Roman faith. This so enraged Jaques that he 
had him beheaded and cast into the sea. In this manner the 
heretics, on account of their hatred and abhorrence of our holy 
religion, killed thirty-nine fathers and brethren of our Com- 
pany. It is not right that we should keep silent as to their 
names, for they are written in the book of life. They were: 
the Provincial Ignacio de Azevedo, Diego de Andrada, Antonio 
Suarez, Benito de Castro, Juan Fernandez de Lisboa, 
Francisco Alvarez Covillo, Domingo Hernandez, Manuel 
Alvarez, Juan de Mayorga, Aragonese; Alonso de Valera, of 
the Kingdom of Toledo, Gonzalo Enriquez Diacono, Juan 
Fernandez de Braga, Alexo Delgado, Luis Correa of Evora, 
Manuel Rodriguez de Halconete, Simon Lopez, Manuel 
Hernandez, Alvaro Mendez, Pedro Munoz, Francisco Magal- 
lanes, Nicolas Diney de Verganza, Caspar Alvarez, Bias 
PJbero de Braga, Antonio Hernandez de Montemayor, 



17 

Manuel Pacheco, Pedro de Fontaura, Simon de Acosta, 
Andrez Gonzalez (fol. 157) de Viana, Amaro Vaz, Diego Perez 
de Mizca, Juan de Baeza, Marcos Caldera, Antonio Correa del 
Puerto, Hernan Sanchez of the province of Castile, Gregorio 
Escrivano of Logrono, Francisco Perez Godoy of Torrijos, 
Juan de Zafra of Toledo, Juan de San Martin, native of Illescas 
and Estevan Zurayre Vizcaino. The latter was a very artless 
man, and when he left Plasencia for this voyage he said to 
father Joseph de Acosta, who was his confessor, that he was 
going cheerfully to Brazil, because he was certain that he was 
to die a martyr. And being asked how he knew it, he replied 
that God had revealed it to him. So that of forty of the 
Company who were in that vessel, one man alone, Juan Sanchez 
escaped death, and it was in this manner. When the heretics 
separated the men, putting on one side those who were to be 
killed and on the other those who were to be spared, they 
examined their hands and garments. And when they saw 
that the brother was young, that his hands were dirty and 
callous and that he wore a short beggarly jacket, they asked 
him whether he was the cook, he answered yes, which was the 
truth. They therefore kept him to make use of him in the 
kitchen (fol. 157a) and he remained with them until they 
returned to France, where our Lord freed him of their control, 
that he might be a witness and relate to us what we have here 
told of the death of his companions, although not he alone, 
but many others were present and afterwards gave an account 
of all that had happened. But in order that the number 
should be exact, and that there should be forty crowns for the 
forty of the company who had entered into the vessel with the 
purpose of dying for Jesus Christ, in place of this brother Juan 
Sanchez, who escaped, the Lord gave us another who was 
called San Juan, a virtuous and upright youth, and nephew of 
the Ship's captain. He took such a liking to the brethren of 
the Company, that he asked to be admitted to it. And 
although father Ignacio did not receive him, he never left his 
side, nor did he cease to take part in the prayers and penance 
of the brethren, and he considered himself as one of them, 
and as such was treated. At the time when the heretics 
separated those of the company from the secular persons, he 
passed over to their side (i. e. of the fathers), and without a 
word allowed himself to be lead to death, in order, by this 
means, to enter into the Company of the blessed in Heaven. 
So that if we count San Juan as one of the Company, there 
were forty (fol. 158) who died. And if we do not consider 
him as such (for he had not yet been admitted) there were 
thirty-nine. All the rest of them the heretics spared. For 
they were all corsairs and heretics; in so far as they were 



18 

corsairs they wished to rob and not kill; and in so far as they 
were heretics, to kill and rob those who made any resistance. 
With these they wage a war with fire and swords (as they say) 
and proclaim that, because of them, their false gospel no 
longer prevails and rules in the world. 

Concerning Twelve Others of the Company Who 
Likewise Died at The Hands of The Heretics 

Chapter XI 

We must not forget the other fathers and brethren whom we 
left on the Island of Madeira with father Pedro Diaz, for they 
are no less worthy of memory than those who are already gone. 
But passing over in silence the hardships which they and those 
in the other vessel suffered in their voyage (which was long 
and dangerous), let us mention only what is to our purpose. 
After having been fifteen months at sea, and on the Islands of 
Barlovento, San Domingo and Cuba, with frightful storms 
and (fol. 158a) many dangers, and arriving at the Island of 
Terceiva, fourteen of the Company with father Diaz were 
taken on the leading ship of the Governor, don Luys de 
Vasconcelos. The latter was obliged to leave the other ships 
he had, on account of the many men who had left him and 
others who had died, and with those who were left manned one 
vessel, with which he sailed, on Sept. 6, 1571, from the Island 
of Terceira for Brazil. After sailing with prosperous winds 
for eight days, they suddenly discovered five vessels, four 
French (commanded by Juan Cadavillo, a Frenchman and 
great heretic, and as cruel an enemy of the Catholics as 
Jaques Soria) and one English, and all of them heretical 
corsairs and capital enemies of our holy religion. Don Luys 
at once recognized his danger and exhorted his men to fight 
valiantly for their faith and their lives. Those of the Com- 
pany he admonished with earnestness to make their peace with 
God if they wished to fight well and hoped to be favored. 
The Governor confessed first, and after him the soldiers and 
the others, and there was time to do it, for night had inter- 
vened a short time after our ship discovered those of the enemy. 
But in the morning, at dawn (fol. 159) the heretical corsairs 
fell upon them, and though they met with great resistance and 
lost many men, they boarded the vessel and overcame it. 
In the battle, which was very bitterly contested, they first 
killed the Governor, who, fighting valiantly, fell pierced by 
two shots, and received many other wounds, and, without 
being recognized by his enemies, was stripped and cast into the 



19 

sea. The Captain having been killed, the enemies overcame 
the ship and took possession of it, and entering with great fury 
into a little cabin where father Castro was hearing the penance 
of the master of the vessel, who was severely wounded and 
about to die. On seeing him (father Castro) they recognized 
that he was a CathoUc priest and that he was adminstering 
the sacrement of the confession, which they so much hated. 
They fell upon him with great rage and killed him. They did 
the same to father Pedro Diaz, who up to that time had like- 
wise been confessing, and who had hastened up to where father 
Castro and brother Caspar Goes were. As the latter was a 
youth of tender years the father had ordered him not to part 
from his side. The other eleven who remained alive 
encouraged one another to be constant and to die cheerfully 
for the Cathohc faith. The heretics, after (fol. 159a) striking 
them with their fists, insulting and maltreating them, bound 
their hands behind their backs and locked them up in a 
compartment and placed guards over them. But because 
brother Miguel Aragones, as his hands were being tied, 
uttered a groan of pain (for he was badly wounded in the arm) 
they threw him, and another brother who was by his side, 
into the sea. The rest remained bound that night, listening 
to the greatest insults and reproaches, and to frightful blas- 
phemies against God our Lord and his Church, as they were 
uttered by those infernal furies. Day having come, the first 
prayer the heretics made was to condemn to death all Jesuits, 
their enemies, for so they call them and for such they hold 
all members of the Company. At first they resolved to hang 
them all to the yards of the vessel, but afterwards, thnking 
they might get great wealth of gold and silver from them, 
(which they thought they were bringing to Brazil to adorn the 
Churches), they gave up their plan, until, realizing that they 
were disappointed, they attacked them with the greatest 
barbarity, insulted them and beat them with clubs, calling 
them dogs, thieves. Papists (fol. 160) and enemies of God. 
Those of the Company neither defended themselves, nor did 
they avoid death, but meek as lambs they permitted them- 
selves to be cast into the sea. Five of the fortunate brethren 
who knew how to swim, came together, and being in the water 
encouraged one another to die, until strength and breath 
failing them, they said: "Tihi soli peccavi," and three of 
them expired. Of the other two, one, named Diego Hernandez 
swam so long till he reached one of the smaller French vessels 
which was lagging behind, and into which he was taken up and 
sheltered by the will of the Lord. The other, who was named 
Sebastian Lopez remained in the sea that night, which was 
very dark and much rain was falling. But seeing a light on 



20 

one of the vessels about half a league off, he followed it till he 
reached it, and entreated those on the vessel to help him and 
take him on board. But he found only cruel words and 
worse deeds (as those of the heretics are wont to be) and as a 
last remedy he went to one of the barks or small boats, and 
into it he was received by a man who, although a heretic and 
an enemy, was not so cruel nor furious as the rest, in a word, 
was more human. The latter received him and hid him in a 
corner, giving him (fol. 160a) something to eat and some 
clothing. Twelve men died on this ship : father Pedro Diaz, 
father Francisco de Castro, and the following brethren: 
Alonso Hernandez, Gaspar Gois, Andres Pays, Juan Alvarez, 
another Pedro Diaz, Fernando Alvarez, Miguel Aragones, 
Francisco Paulo, Pedro Hernandez, Diego Carvallo, and the 
two who escaped by swimming ( from whom and from others 
this story was learned) were named Sebastian Lopez and 
Diego Hernandez, as we have said. 

This time the heretics were not satisfied with shedding the 
innocent blood of so many servants of God because they 
defended and preached the holy Catholic faith, but they also 
showed their rage and fury against God himself and against 
his Saints. For, having found some relics and images of 
Saints and Agnus Dei and consecrated beads and other 
articles of devotion (which our men carried with them for 
their comfort and consolation and to awaken the piety of the 
faithful in Brazil) the heretics showed their impiety and hatred 
toward them by dragging them about, stamping upon them 
and subjecting them to all the contempt and insult that they 
were able, finally casting them into the sea. So that by his 
own works we may know who he is who guides them and 
induces them to commit such impious, cruel and grievous 
acts. (fol. 161) 

I have dwelt upon this narrative because the martyrdom of 
these fifty-one fathers and brethren of the Company is such an 
exemplary matter for all who read it. And for those of the 
Company, especially, it is an inestimable benefit which we 
have received from the Lord, and a great incentive to imitate 
those who have gone before us, and to seek new opportunites 
to increase and extend throughout the world the light of the 
holy Gospel and to wrest from the claws of Satan the souls 
which Christ our Lord redeemed with his blood, although it 
be at the cost of our own and with the loss of all that the 
world promises and cannot fulfil. But it is now time that we 
again take up the thread of our story and continue what we 
have begun concerning the life of father Francisco. The 
latter, when he received the news of the happy death of those 
his doughty warriors and blessed sons, although on the one 



21 

hand he felt great sorrow because Brazil had need of them, 
on the other he rejoiced much more on seeing that, in his time, 
the Lord deigned to accept this offering and sacrifice of blood 
which the Company offered him. And with great tenderness 
and feeling he commended the dead and praised their virtues 
and supplicated the Lord that he should give grace to those 
who remained. 



